This book is intended as a conceptual roadmap to show how some of the numerous piecesof complex coastal systems intersect and might interact under changing futureenvironmental regimes. It is addressed to a non-technical but environmentallyliterate audience that includes the lay public, policy makers, planners, engineers andacademics interested in the causes and consequences of global changes as they are likelyto affect coastal systems. The book also outlines some strategies for anticipating andresponding to the challenges that lie ahead.

The purpose is not to offer a technical treatise on how to build betternumerical models or to provide the cognoscenti with new scientific details or theories.Quite on the contrary the authors aim to provide a holistic, easy-accessible overview of coastal systems and therefore use a writing style that is non-technical, nonmathematicaland non-jargonized throughout. Wherever scientificterms are required toavoid ambiguity, a clear and simple definition is presented and those definitions arerepeated in the glossary. The authors aim to communicate with all who care about the future ofcoastal environments.

In Part 1, they present some underlying general big picture concepts that are applicable to coastal processes and coastal change worldwide. Part 2 reviews some of the more important physical, ecological and societal causes and outcomes of coastal change. A selection of case studies of some prominent and highlyvulnerable coastal regions is presented in Part 3. Some strategies for facilitating andsupporting collaboration among the global scientific community to enhance future coastalresilience are outlined in Part 4.